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With so many themes to choose from, it gets tough sometimes to pick out the ones for review. It’s pretty clear that we stick with certain designers for stretches, and with good reason. Most of the ones we regularly feature are excellent designers pumping out massive numbers of themes. If you’re a designer and want to see your theme reviewed here, just drop me a line: jpawlikowski bbgeeks com. Be forewarned: I’m honest in the review, so if it’s bad I’ll say so. That said, onto this week’s crop:

Yin Yang

Our first theme this week comes from the beloved Cherri Chiodo. Over the past few weeks she’s been releasing her Yin Yang theme for just about every BlackBerry platform. Whether you use a Curve (including the 8900), Pearl (including flip), Storm, Bold, or even an 88xx, she’s got you covered. This is a colorful theme, coming in both purple and red, and featuring the classic Yin Yang symbol front and center. The reflection adds to the pleasing visual experience.

This theme stands out because of its arrangement of icons on the home screen. Rather than running five or six across the bottom or down one side, Cherri has three on each side. This allows for bigger icons, which is always nice. As always she’s created her custom icons for this theme, and as always they’re some of the better icons out there. They’re easy to discern, which is the biggest key. There are no blending issues on the Applications Menu. The font isn’t her traditional comic font, but I still needed to change it up. Call me old fashioned, but I like my normal BlackBerry font.

You can get the Yin Yang theme at the BBGeeks Store for $6.99. That’s the link to the Curve 83xx red version, but as mentioned you can get it for any BlackBerry platform. Click around in the store (type Yin Yang into the search bar) and you should see all of the results.

Whiteout

Our next theme comes from Jason Calhoun, who has been featured on Theme Review Wednesdays for a few weeks running. His site, JasonCalhoun.com, is filled with BlackBerry themes, far too many for me to ever get through. Still, I keep finding interesting ones, and Whiteout is no exception. Its interest, really, lies in its simplicity. The only bits of color you’ll see on this theme are the new message indicators. Other than that, it’s all white and shades of gray. It certainly makes for a neat theme concept.

It’s a Today theme, so it gets instant plus points. Having messages and calendar appointments show up on the Home Screen is a positive, and thankfully the Bold makes it easier to do on all themes. Across the bottom there are six nondescript icons of the user’s choosing. The Applications Menu is nothing special, featuring more nondescript icons. In fact, if there is any complaint about this theme at all, it’s that the icons are sometimes difficult to discern. That’s why they have the text on the bottom, though. Even if you can’t figure out what an icon is, you can just scroll over it. Problem solved.

You can get the Whiteout theme as with all of Calhoun’s themes at the BBGeeks Store. This premium theme runs $7.

Rock Star

How have I not reviewed this theme before? This is simply one of the coolest ones I’ve ever seen, though there is certainly a bias involved. Themes4BB has created this rocking theme, and it’s right up any rock ‘n’ roll fan’s alley. It features crossing Gibson Explorers on the home screen, with six icons laid out across the bottom. These aren’t standard, but rather blending with the theme. Yes, there is an icon of the devil horns. Two, in fact.

The theme has a sharp gold on black contrast which makes it look sleek. The icons have little to do with the actual applications, which I’ve complained about in the past so it’s only right to bring it up now. But given the overall theme, I’m going to leave that alone, at least in my mind. It’s based on a tabbing system, so you can organize your icons a bit deeper than most themes. It also saves the Applications Menu from natural clutter.

You can get the Rock Star theme over at Themes4bb.com. It’s $6.99, so right in line with the other themes we’ve reviewed this week.

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